DINGBAT PRESS
{please visit dingbat press here}
There’s just nothing like your home team winning the Superbowl (proud Louisiana girl + Saints fan here). Except maybe beautiful, letterpressed calligraphy. Adrienne Berry of Dingbat Press understands my love for this art because she’s made it her mission to create amazing examples of such. Outside of her love for her husband and children, nothing compares to her affinity for letterpress. It shows in her work too!
One stop by her shop and you’ll see her passion in each and every piece of her work: cupcake recipe cards pressed into crisp white paper, lovey dovey Valentine tags, notecards adorned with nature’s beauties and calligraphy calling cards. Oh, the calligraphy calling cards! So incredibly swoon-worthy!
Adrienne is partnering with Danae Blackburn-Hernandez of e.Danae calligraphy for your Bright Side Project prize. Blackburn-Hernandez has been practicing fine lettering since the ripe age of twelve! Mostly self taught, she works from home with her trusty Mac and countless bottles of inks and nibs. In addition to wedding stationery she also combines her lettering with watercolors and illustrations. For Dingbat Press she will create your name in her hand for Adrienne who will then lay it out and press them into calling cards that stand out from the crowd.
And if beauty was not enough, 10% of the profits from custom calling cards are donated to JDRF, Adrienne’s favorite non-profit organization which specializes in advocating and finding a cure for children with type 1 diabetes. Pretty with a purpose. What’s not to love?
My absolutely most relazing thing possible is getting into a nice cozy bed with a cup of tea and a new book and reading for hours!
Run, breath, and color.
oh and last but certainly not least -monster hugs. I receive monster hugs.
at my most relaxed I am, as of late, stitching. Making (owl)ies, valentine’s felties, patches, coffee cozies. I slink away to the very upstairs of our house to my craft room (which is 1/4 of my daughter’s playroom), sit in my orange chair, prop my feet up on a makeshift foot stool (a pillow tied with ribbon to a milk crate) and stitch and stich and cut and pick out buttons and match fabric. And to top it all off I haev Harry Potter audio books playing which make me chuckle, sigh, and on occasion shed a tear or two. It is a little slice of heaven.
To make myself lighten up, sometimes I try and make myself act like my kids. Be silly, snort, laugh, play and just BE. It helps.
What a great topic, and better yet, something relaxing to think about. My friends and I are queens of accents and funny voices. In fact, I have a friend or two that I haven’t spoken to in my actual voice in years. It’s just something we do and really provides a nice way to break from the grind of life.
Oh my gosh!!! I totally need these!! I’m getting married in a couple weeks and would love these with my new name & email.
- When I need to lighten up I will go to the playground and play on the equipment. Sometimes people look at me strangely but I don’t care. It is so darn fun and those kids treat you just like one of them. Then I listen to music from my childhood or highschool days on the way home and sing every word at the top of my voice.
Pamper yourself! Watch one of your favorite movies {or something new!}, fix yourself your favorite drink, & paint your nails! Afterward, draw a nice warm bubble bath, light candles, {maybe fix another drink!}, & read a wonderful book. You will feel oh so relaxed! Your husband could even fix the bath for you, giving your nails enough time to dry :)
Get excercise! In my case that means going to play volleyball. I absolutely love that the only thing you have to worry about for an hour is playing good ball . . . it calms the nerves . . . plus you get to goof around with the girls!
I act like a carefree teenager…which I am so not anymore ;) I watch guilty pleasure tv (you know- the shows you don’t admit to anyone that you actually watch), flip through magazines, paint my toenails fun bright colors and use licorice as a straw to drink my diet coke which gives it a nice but very slight cherry coke flavor! Sometimes it is nice to pretend like you don’t have a care in the world and just have some mindless fun!!
Be around small children.
Watch horrible tv – the kind that rots your brain, but is so satisfying.
Listen to music that makes you tap your foot and want to dance.
Have a good meal with friends.
This is a great question since I used my own method of relaxing last night when I felt really overwhelmed with work. I watch a funny television show or a movie! Even doing it for just a little while makes me feel a lot better. I used to watch The Tonight Show online but it seems that you can’t do that anymore thanks to NBC…yesterday I watched about 50 minutes of ‘Ferris Bueller’s Day Off’. SO FUNNY. Another movie I’d recommend is ‘Help!’ starring the beloved Beatles! That movie really…helps! :D
I put the old great music hits of the 70s on loudly in my lounge and dance when no one is around – a huge stress reliever!
I call my girlfriends and go out for a few cocktails then head off somewhere to dance to awesome retro music! Or go to the gym for a high energy aerobic workout, or yoga, depending on whether i need a pick me up or a total relax. Also, getting up to watch sunrise and just enjoying it with a cup of tea, a nice scented candle, your favourite music and some stretching is another favourite.
Read Harry Potter. Or, even better, anything by Jasper Fforde.
Painting outside and letting Mother Nature take conrol of my life!
Spending time with children always lightens me up.
I am a giant stress ball most of the time. Acupuncture works wonders on keeping me in check!
baking a chocolate cake when drinking a jasmine green tea !
Laugh…find the fun in the day – we have a 3 year old, so looking at the world and it’s challenges through her eyes. Our fav last week – making ‘moustachios’ across our faces/under our noses out of our long hair strands – even Daddy thought it was funny. Life is too mysterious to take it too serious….laugh and learn.
A HOT BATH … Hands down!
I volunteer with youth-they know how to have fun in any situation
I find yoga helps immensely when I need to calm myself and focus.
to relax: i draw trees
to lighten up: amaretto sours :)
easy … kick off your shoes, turn up the radio and dance
I like to push the pause button, leave the situation mentally and not return until I have some space. Usually I like to drink rose tea during my pause button.
Impromptu dance parties!
changing the baby’s diaper . . . .
My favorite thing to do to lighten up is take a long hot bath with a good book. Or a nap. A nap does a body good.
The best way to lighten up is to go over old photos or events that are a wonderful reminder of how great life is and how. . . . fleeting! Then take a deep breath and relax!!
Swings! And rice crispy treats.
And making faces at loved ones.
We keep a book of limmericks and a book of comic poetry lying around. Cracks me up.
I take A hot mud bath (auromere) with candals all around the tub. Sometimes I drink tea, read a book, or simply just lay under the water. It’s the BEST way to relax.
I take a nice bath and curl up with a good book after.
I’m swooning over these beautiful designs. To relax I try to yoga at least 1 a week, drink a nice cup of tea before bed and anything lavender!
I take the dogs out and play. I have two of the most silly but loving dogs. They crack me up! :-) They’re so happy to be out and playing ball and it always helps me remember that tomorrow can be a better day.
I go for a walk with my camera–I’m always surprised and please with what I come home with. It never fails to lighten my mood.
To relax? I just start doing ballet around the house while singing an odd song. (I don’t do ballet, never learned ballet, and never will learn ballet, btw. [:)
To lighten up I just start singing, never knowing what’s going to come out of my mouth. It can end up really silly sometimes but also eye-opening
By making fun of {every} thing we pass by as my hubby and I drive in the car. We can get pretty wacky with our jesting. The only rule is no serious forethought and lots of ad libbing. Lucky turns of phrase are rewarded with high-fives and “daaaangs”. Traveling is much better since I met him.
I am a 21 year old student who juggles work, being the theatre club president, the honors program at OSU, sometimes a musical or play, and still being a good daughter, sister, friend and girlfriend. I love to take time to relax when I can grab it! I love to watch movies and play board games to do this when I am with my friends. My boyfriend and I are avid Pictionary players…A) because it’s a classic and B) because it’s hilarious to watch someone draw out the seemingly impossible. Grab some friends and your hubby and get drawing! (Even if you can’t draw, it’s ok…it’s more fun that way!)
To lighten up I hang out with kids, the younger the better for a new less serious perspective.
to relax: i grab tea and my current knitting project and crawl under the warmest, softest blankie my gram made for me before she passed away. knitting always reminds me of her and makes me smile. to lighten up: i grab our 2 year old neighbor, crank our favorite song and dance and sing our hearts out! if i can do both in the same day, it makes life extra special.
Go watch crappy chick flicks. There is nothing better than a funny movie that’s short on plot and long on romance.
I love to read to relax. It also helps me to do something new I’ve been wanting to try. :)
Live each day as it comes! Try not to get too concerned about tomorrow and read fiction. It helps take you away from the daily grind and gives persepective!
I laugh a lot, if your laughing, how can you have a bad day? I live by my motto- “Don’t sweat the small stuff, it’s all small stuff!” Thank you for the opprotunity- these are absolutely beautiful!
I have a list of goals – since I am a natural planner – and on days when I’m getting too deep in stress and chaos, I add something COMPLETELY uncharacteristic to my list, forcing me to get out of the box. For example, this week to do: laundry, Thursday’s copy deadline, sort through the stack of bills and mail that Thank You letter and then finally visit that Bakery I always see and am curious about, but always write off because of the carbs, money or time. Go out on a limb every week and do something you’ve put off, or written off and you’ll be amazed at what it can do!
I feel creative in the kitchen and baking a cake or making a casserole or preserving fruits/vegetables is one of the ways that give me a product that lightens me up.
People have always said “Laura, just lighten up!”. I am so type ‘A’ and tightly wound sometimes, I admit it. It sounds funny, but all I do is force a smile. I feel like an idiot at the time, but really, forcing you muscles into the position somehow makes your brain say “well, isn’t that nice”. So even if you look like a dork, or feel grouchy and not wanting to turn that frown upside down, force it, and good things may happen.
Hubby rubs my feet to help me relax. If your hubby is saying you need to relax, maybe he should help you relax with some massaging! ; )